7 Simple, On-The-Spot Ways to Avoid Burnout

Financial worries, job pressures, relationship issues, bills, family tension, time constraints, wars, Washington, illness, traffic, the nightly news all chip away at our health, and according to the latest figures on stress from the American Psychological Association, most of us are doing a pretty poor job of managing it (see sidebar below).

“Stress is like acid on metal,” says New York author and researcher Stephen G. Post. It erodes us, damaging our musculoskeletal, respiratory and cardiovascular systems and setting in motion a prolonged fight-or-flight response — an instinctive adrenaline rush hardwired into our brains that’s meant to be an auto-reply to a pouncing tiger or a hot stove.

But for many of us with bills to pay, kids to raise, bosses to please, spouses to nurture, ageing parents to care for, and a to-do list that never seems to end, stress isn’t just a reaction to an occasional threat or attack; it’s a way of life. A pouncing tiger almost seems more manageable.

Here are some stress-busting tips from area experts who say that while stress is a part of life, we can beat it with a few simple strategies:

1. Laugh It Off

Although you may not feel like laughing, forcing yourself to chuckle or smile can actually lighten your mood, says Arleen Stein (laughterfactor.com), a laughter leader from Menands who’s certified by the World Laughter Tour, an international organization that promotes laughter as a source of good health and, well, happiness.

“When you start laughing, it’s very physical and you find you forget what was wrong with you,” says Stein, who works with businesses, hospitals, schools and nursing homes teaching the art — and benefits — of laughter.

Laughter may boost the immune system, reduce chronic pain, lower blood sugar levels in diabetes patients, improve lung function in COPD patients, and release chemicals in the brain that reduce stress hormones, leading to an overall feeling of relaxation, according to studies.

“Simulating laughter,” she says, “stimulates laughter.” In other words, even faking it can make you feel better, says Stein, who keeps her cool by “re-framing what’s going on.”

Try to look at things a little differently,” she says. “Look at what you can control and how important it is in the scope of life.”

When she’s stuck in traffic and on the verge of losing it, Stein says she puts on a red rubber clown nose. “People see that and start smiling and then it calms me down,” she says.

2. Take a Deep Breath (or Two, or Three)

“We teach a technique known as the three-minute breathing space,” says Lenore Flynn, owner of the Solid Ground Center for a Balanced Life in Albany (solidgroundny.org), of the mini-meditation designed to center and relax the mind and body. “I think that it’s probably one of the most useful, quick, on-the-spot things we teach to people,” says Flynn, whose students practice it a few times a day so they’re ready to pull out the calming exercise when confronted with a frustrating or emotional event.

“What the breathing space does is it interrupts that reactivity,” says Flynn. “As soon as you begin to notice you’re getting agitated or reacting to something, you interrupt that with the three-minute exercise.”

Stop and become aware of your thoughts and how your body feels, even if it’s negative

Pay attention to the sensation of your breath, feeling yourself inhale and exhale while becoming more present in the moment

Feel your body as a whole, redirecting your breath to parts of your body that are tense and allowing yourself to acknowledge how you feel

“That three-minute pause has really positive neurological and cognitive effects on your well-being so you’re not going down the path of reactivity,” she says. “Once the reactivity cycle goes into play, it often carries you along and has its own energy.”

Mindfulness-based stress reduction has been shown, she says, to have the ability to change our brains.

“Let’s say you go to see your mom and she’s always commenting about your hair or your clothes or the car you drive or something else that’s a sore spot for you, and immediately you begin to react,” says Flynn. “Your brain has these automatic channels: Mom. Comment. Bingo! Off we go to the reactivity. Whereas the three-minute breathing space helps to alter that pattern, so if you practice it enough it often becomes your default reaction.”

3. Relax

“Those of us who sit at desks a lot often hold tension across our shoulders and in our necks,” says Jan Hempstead, RN, a board certified health coach in Albany (inspiredhealthcoaching.com) who coaches clients in person and by phone. “Progressive muscle relaxation is something people can do right at their desks, or at home wherever they are sitting and involves a tightening and relaxing of muscle groups.”

Hempstead starts at the top — tighten the muscles in your face and hold, then relax; scrunch up your shoulders and hold, then relax — and moves down the body.

“We are often very unaware of where in our bodies we hold tension,” says Hempstead. “By tightening muscle groups then relaxing them, we first become aware of where we’re holding tension and secondly give our body the opportunity to relax those muscles.”

4. Do a Good Deed

In a 2010 study, 75 percent of Americans who volunteer said it lowered their stress levels and nearly 100 percent said helping others made them “feel happier,” according to Post, founding director of the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics at Stony Brook University and author of several books, including The Hidden Gifts of Helping (stephengpost.com).

“It turns out when people even think about helping others, a particular area of the brain gets activated — the part of the brain associated with feelings of joy,” says Post, and “happiness chemicals” like dopamine and oxytocin are released.

“What’s really interesting is that when these kinds of pathways are active, they close down the brain pathways that are associated with bitterness, hostility, rumination and so many of the destructive emotional states that create stress and protracted high levels of stress hormones,” says Post.

Something as simple as putting a piece of candy on a coworker’s desk or taking the trash out for an elderly neighbor can “light up” the happy chemicals in our brains and suppress the stress response.

“In terms of readily available activity for the everyday person, the best thing to do is make a point of doing something for somebody — a neighbor, a friend, someone who’s needy — and even if it’s just a half hour a week, the benefits are truly astonishing.”

In the midst of a racing mind, Post says, “Breathe deep and ask yourself one very practical question: ‘Right now, what can I do to contribute to the life of a single individual in my immediate vicinity?’

“If you want to feel relief from stress, get involved in the activity of helping somebody, somewhere, in some small way and that will help you make an emotional shift,” he says.

5. Give Yourself a Massage

“It’s great to be able to go to a massage therapist but being able to do a self-massage right in the moment is helpful,” says Hempstead, the Albany health coach, explaining a couple of simple stress-relieving self-massage techniques:

Gently massage your earlobe with your thumb and forefinger for two or three minutes. “It’s very stress relieving and very calming,” she says. “I often have clients do this at night if they have trouble sleeping.”

Run the pads of all four fingers along the sides of your neck and out across your shoulders. “Do that four or five times with good, gentle pressure,” Hempstead says. “It brings the blood flow through the neck and down to the trapezius muscles,” at the base of the skull and across the shoulders, where stress often manifests as sore knots and painful trigger points.

6. Hug Something Furry

Studies show that animal-assisted therapy (usually dogs trained to be calm and obedient) can significantly lower patients’ blood pressure, reduce stress hormones and increase endorphin and oxytocin levels — “happiness” brain chemicals — resulting in a better mood and reduced pain.
Patty Reksc, an Amsterdam dog-owner and director of Therapy Dogs International Chapter 74 in the Capital Region, says she’s not versed in the science behind her work — her therapy dogs visit with nursing home residents, hang with college students during exam week, help children learn to read, and even greet stressed-out travelers at Albany International Airport. She just knows it works.

“If definitely helps with stress relief,” she says. “It helps them feel better and relax when the pet comes in and gives them unconditional love and acceptance.”

As demand for therapy dogs grows, Reksc says her all-volunteer local chapter, which has more than 100 certified therapy dogs, is being invited to health fairs and local companies as well.

“There are so many different scenarios,” she says. “Dogs are so giving and they don’t judge.”

7. Get It In Writing

Journaling can be one of the most effective things you can do when you’re stressed out, says Hempstead.

“You don’t have to write your life story,” she says. “Just write down your thoughts and feelings without editing as they come. It can be one word, a phrase, a sentence. Write it as it flows, keeping it private and releasing whatever needs to be let go.”

People tend to dwell on things, she says, “thinking about it, ruminating over it. We spend too much time in our heads and eventually that starts to manifest itself in bodily symptoms” like aches and pains, irritability and trouble sleeping.

“The act of putting pen to paper helps us relieve that negativity,” she says. “It can take two or three minutes but it’s incredibly powerful to help relieve our stress.”

For those worried someone mind find and read their innermost thoughts, Hempstead recommends using a basic student’s composition notebook and writing your name and the words “TO-DO LIST” in big block letters on the front cover.

“Nobody would dream of opening it for fear of having to do something on your list,” she laughs.

“Stress never ends,” she adds. “We all have it, at different levels and at different times in our lives. It’s how we respond to that stress that determines whether or not we do well or make ourselves sick.”

Stress and Our Well-Being

The American Psychological Association’s annual Stress in America survey examines how stress affects Americans’ health and well-being. According to the 2013 study, the APA found that people continue to experience stress higher than what they believe to be healthy, struggle to achieve their health and lifestyle goals, and manage stress in ineffective ways. Here are some highlights of the report, available in full at apa.org.

Stress Over Time
42% of adults report that their stress level has increased
36% say their stress level has stayed the same over the past five years

Managing Stress
61% of adults say that managing stress is extremely or very important … but only 35% say they are doing an excellent or very good job at it

44% of adults say they are not doing enough or are not sure whether they are doing enough to manage their stress … but 19% say they never engage in stress management activities

The Major Stressors
These three continue to be the most commonly reported sources of stress

Economy – 59%
Work – 69%
Money – 71%

Teen Stress
Teens report a 5.8 stress level (out of 10 points) during the school year.
They believe a 3.9 stress level is ideal.

Teens also top adults’ average reported stress levels:
5.8 for teens vs. 5.1 for adults

31% of teens report feeling overwhelmed
30% report feeling depressed or sad as a result of stress
36% of teens report fatigue or feeling tired
23% report skipping a meal due to stress